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GRE vocabulary

tenacious

adjectiveHigh-frequency wordMore T words

holding firmly to a course, belief, or grip

Word origin: From Latin tenere, to hold.

In a sentence

Tenacious in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing tenacious in a sentence.

Her tenacious pursuit of the truth eventually unraveled the entire conspiracy.

The plaintiff's tenacious pursuit of the case kept it alive through three appeals and a decade of delays.

Synonyms
persistentdoggeddeterminedresolute
Antonyms
yieldingirresoluteweak
Usage & nuance

Using “tenacious” well

Tenacious describes holding firmly to a course, belief, or grip, with a generally admiring connotation of persistence. It opposes anything yielding or irresolute.

Common questions

Questions about “tenacious

Tenacious (adjective) means holding firmly to a course, belief, or grip
Here is tenacious used in an example sentence: "Her tenacious pursuit of the truth eventually unraveled the entire conspiracy." Another example: "The plaintiff's tenacious pursuit of the case kept it alive through three appeals and a decade of delays."
Common synonyms for tenacious include persistent, dogged, determined, resolute.
Antonyms of tenacious include yielding, irresolute, weak.
Clusters with persistent, dogged, and resolute in Sentence Equivalence. Its antonyms yielding, irresolute, and weak signal the reversed sense.
Yes. Tenacious is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

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